by Agbonmagbe Kazeem
“President Bola Tinubu’s political journey to Aso Rock is nothing short of years of experience, political investment, courage, and building bridges, amongst others.”
Tinubu, came into the national limelight, politically in 2015 when he helped late President, Muhammadu Buhari became president after four failed attempts.
President Bola Tinubu’s early days in politics was when he joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1992 and was elected senator to represent Lagos West district under the platform of the SDP.
The third republic was, however, aborted after the then military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election that produced Chief M.K.O. Abiola. In his attempt to realise Abiola’s mandate, Tinubu joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to fight against the imprisonment of MKO by the late General Sani Abacha’s regime. He later fled into exile in 1994 and became a financier of the group. Abacha came into power after he overthrew the interim government of Ernest Shonekan, after 84 days in office. Tinubu’s return to Nigeria from exile After spending 4 years in exile, Tinubu returned to Nigeria in 1998 after the death of Gen Abacha to continue his political career.
Recall that General Abdulsalami Abubakar had agreed to return Nigeria to democracy in 1999 after he took over power in 1998. Tinubu became Lagos state governor in 1999 Tinubu emerged as the Lagos State governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in January 1999 after defeating other aspirants in the primary election. He also won the gubernatorial election to become governor in 1999.
Tinubu won his re-election in April 2003 after he survived former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attempt to sweep all the Southwestern States into his ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Bola outsmarted the ruling PDP and their federal might to become the only surviving AD governor in the southwest. It was during this period that he became a political godfather, building a political dynasty and investing in people like former Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Former Lagos state governor and minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fasola, former Osun state governor and minister of Interior, Rabiu Aregbesola.
Obasanjo seized Lagos funds meant for local councils In continuation of his power tussle with former President Obasanjo, the federal government seized funds meant for local councils in Lagos state in spite of the decision of the Supreme Court against Obasanjo. The federal government seized funds following Lagos state government’s plan to create new Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to meet its large population’s needs.
Tinubu declares to run for presidency In January 2022, Tinubu declared his intention to run for the 2023 presidential election after a meeting with late President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Buhari did not endorse Tinubu’s candidature until after the APC primaries. Recall that during an interview in June 2021, Buhari said: “You cannot sit there in Lagos… and decide the fate of APC on zoning.” The “Emi Lokan” outburst Tinubu made the “Emi lokan” (it is my turn) remark in Abeokuta, Ogun State while addressing delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in June 2022. Tinubu stated that it was his turn to become president after helping Buhari emerge president in 2015.
Tinubu fought Emefiele over naira crush It appeared Tinubu found a home in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital to voice out the deepest thought of his heart. During his campaign in Abeokuta, the Tinubu spoke out against the ill-fated currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, and fuel supply shortage that had lingered for several months across the country.
Tinubu won presidential election with over 8m Votes At the break of a new month on March 1, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu the winner of the Saturday, February 25, presidential election, having scored 8,794,729 votes. The President got the required 25 per cent in 30 states to defeat his major opponents, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who came second with 6,984,520 votes and followed by Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP), who scored 6,101,533 votes.
This was how Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu’s long term ally and former colleague in the class of 1999 state governors, Olusegun Osoba, described the new Nigeria president in a 2020 interview with The Guardian. Victory for Tinubu in the Saturday, February 25 2023 presidential election is like the final destination of a political journey which began over three decades ago. President Tinubu assumed office on Monday, May 29, despite ongoing legal battles challenging his victory.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political career began in 1991, when he joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In 1992, he was elected to the Senate, representing the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic. Tinubu always wins Undefeated in every election he has contested in, Tinubu, popularly called BAT (the acronym of his name), realised his lifelong presidential dream in 2023. However, the road to Aso Rock Presidential Villa was no bed of roses.
Tinubu’s victory which was ratified on Wednesday March 1, 2023, had its genesis in the former Lagos governor’s days during the difficult times where he fought with like minds through the instrumentality of National Democratic Coalition formed in 1994, Afenifere and other platforms to challenge the military junta which annulled the June 12, 1993 election of late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola. Those moments inspired his ‘Renewed Hope’ campaign slogan. The new Nigerian leader made a near-anonymous entry into the political terrain during the transition programme of General Ibrahim Babangida. He was a member of the Peoples Front political association founded by the late Shehu Yar’adua but the group and others were denied registration as political parties by the junta. Instead, it established two parties, the SDP and the National Republican Convention. The Yar’adua group moved into the former and it was under the party that Tinubu was elected senator in July 1992.
After Sani Abacha, the military successor of Babangida, scrapped the transitional democratic institutions, including the National Assembly, threw Abiola into jail and went after his supporters with an iron fist, Tinubu joined in the formation of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which sustained a campaign against military rule. His (Tinubu’s) involvement in the pro-democracy struggle forced him into exile. When he returned home after the June 1998 death of Abacha, he teamed up to form the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and was elected the first governor of Lagos state in the Fourth Republic the following year. He was the only one among the six governors of the party, all of them in the Southwest, to retain office in 2003 after Olusegun Obasanjo’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won most states in the region. Tinubu achieves his biggest dream — against odds In a presidential election involving top candidates, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat 17 other candidates. His two closest opponents, former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and former Anambra state governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party, then called for the cancellation of the February poll, alleging that it was tainted by voter suppression and the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload polling units results from the over 176,000 polling stations to a web portal as promised.
It was the first time Tinubu would be running for president, whether in the party primaries or general elections, yet he triumphed. Even the colossal late Muhammadu Buhari had to try four times. His victory means that he took the prize on first attempt, just like Shehu Shagari, Obasanjo and Umaru Musa Yar’adua before him. In farewell speech, Buhari reveals why Tinubu won 2023 presidential election Meanwhile, earlier reported that late President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians were right to elect Tinubu as the country’s next president, noting that he was the best among the presidential candidates who contested the 2023 election. Buhari made this known in his farewell broadcast on Sunday, May 28.
To be continue……
“THE HISTORIAN”
AGBONMAGBE REMILEKUN KAZEEM
+2348036472826
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